Dr. Jessica Mindnich is a data, evaluation, organizational learning, and strategic philanthropy expert. She was previously the Senior Director of Strategic Learning and Evaluation at The Mellon Foundation. There, she worked with the organization’s leadership and program teams to embed evaluation and learning throughout The Mellon Foundation’s work, helping to build its capacity for strategic learning and evaluation in its grantmaking portfolio.
Prior to that, she was the Senior Director of Evaluation, Learning, and Impact Stories for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation where she guided the development of their Inclusive Prosperity Strategy, which included $1.5 billion in investments. She was also previously the Director of Strategic Learning & Evaluation at the San Francisco Foundation, where she created the evaluation department, and at Children Now, where she launched and led the organization’s research department.
Jessica has long been an advocate for inclusive systems. As a policy advocate, she championed critical policies including California’s expansion of Medi-Cal, an overhaul of school discipline policies, and the passage of California’s Local Control Funding Formula, which ties state funds to student needs. She is also deeply committed to leadership development, having participated in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Leadership in State-Based Advocacy Program and their Results Count® program, which shares a unique approach to leadership that provides individuals with the skills and tools to apply to their work on behalf of children and families. She later became an Advanced Results Count® Practitioner and was also a member of the organization’s National KIDS COUNT Steering Committee.
Jessica is a three-time graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned her Ph.D. and master’s degree in education, as well as a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
